OK, so Patreon kicked up a major storm yesterday with the announcement of its new fee structure.

So, What Happened?

Here's the tl;dr version: Creators, like me, used to pay the processing fees out of our pledges. Starting December 18th, patrons will be charged fees instead.

I don't like this, at all. Not one bit. This is incredibly stupid and short-sighted thinking on Patreon's part. They are framing it as creators getting more of the pledge, but that's (EARMUFFS) bullshit.

I had no problem paying for the fees out of my pledges. I got it. That's the trade off. Making patrons pay is all kinds of stupid. It essentially kills the lower level tiers, the $1 and $2 pledges. A lot of creators depend on those low level donations.

Many people can only throw in a dollar a month. And that's fine! I'm happy to get any amount.

What Am I Going to Do?

I'm going to ride things out for the short term and see if Patreon walks this back.

In the mean time, I'm going to place notes in the current pledge levels explaining the extra fees, so it's totally transparent.

If you have no problem paying the extra fee and want to stay on a patron, thank you!

If you want to cancel, I understand (especially my $1 level folks). $1 pledges will now actually cost $1.38. It may not seem like a lot, but these fees are attached to every pledge you make, not just a one time thing.

Many patrons back multiple creators at low levels. And that's fine! But, these new fees basically kill that approach.

The Future

I'm going to keep my eyes open for an alternative if Patreon doesn't change this fee thing. I don't know what that will be. My Patreon will remain running for the moment, but I could shut it down if this doesn't get changed (and even if it does, I'm not sure how crazy I am about staying).